Modern Housing for America: Policy Struggles in the New Deal Era (Historical Studies of Urban America)

284 Pages·1997·12.16 MB·English

by  Gail Radford

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MODERN HOUSING FOR AMERICA
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A serieseditedbyJamesR. GrossmanandKathleenN.Conzen
SmolderingCity: ChicagoansandtheGreatFire, 1871-1874
KarenSawislak
ParishBoundaries: TheCatholicEncounterwithRaceintheTwentieth,Century
UrbanNorth
JohnT. McGreevy
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MODERN HOUSING
FOR AMERICA
Policy Struggles in
the New Deal Era
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Gail Radford
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The Universityof Chicago Press • Chicago and London
GAIL RADFORD isassistantprofessorofhistoryattheStateUniversityofNew
York-Buffalo.
TheUniversityofChicagoPress,Chicago60637
TheUniversityofChicagoPress,Ltd.,London
©1996byTheUniversityofChicago
Allrightsreserved.Published1996
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 2 3 4 5
ISBN0,226,70222,7(cloth)
0,226,70223,5 (paper)
LibraryofCongressCataloging,in,PublicationData
Radford,Gail.
ModernhousingforAmerica: PolicystrugglesintheNewDealera
/GailRadford.
p. em.- (HistoricalstudiesofurbanAmerica)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-226-70222-7(alk.paper).- ISBN0-226-70223-5 (pbk.:
alk.paper)
1. Housingpolicy-UnitedStates-History-20thcentury. 2. New
Deal,1933-1939. I. Title. II.Series.
HD7293.R28 1996
363.5'8'0973-dc20 96,21155
CIP
@ThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsoftheAmerican
NationalStandardforInformationSciences-PermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary
Materials,ANSI239.48-1984.
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For Stephen Hart
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CONTENTS
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Acknowledgments ix
Introduction
1 American Housing before the Depression 7
2 The Politics of Housing in the 1920s 29
3 Catherine Bauer and the Plan for
"Modern Housing" 59
4 The PWA Housing Division 85
5 The Hosiery Workers' Model Development 111
6 The Harlem River Houses 147
7 The Struggle to Shape Permanent Policy 177
Conclusion 199
Notes 211
Index 259
vii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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W
riting this book has been a rewarding experience, not least
because of the chance to meet many talented and public..
spirited people. A number of them appear in the following
pages, as they played a part in developing the modem housing policy initia..
tive. WhilemostwerenotlivingwhenIbeganthiswork, Ineverthelessrelish
the hoursspent intheircompanyas Isat inlibrariesand archivesresearching
their work. There were two principals in this story who were alive when I
began, and IdeeplyregretthatWilliamJeanes, Sr.,whohelpedplanand later
managedtheCarlMackleyHouses, andJohnLewisWilson, the lastsurviving
member of the architectural team that designed the Harlem River Houses,
will not be able to see this project in its completedform. Itwas aprivilege to
meetandtalkwithbothofthem. Iwouldalsolike toacknowledgethe invalu..
able help ofthe many residents and supporters ofthe two developments who
spoke with me at length, sometimes on several occasions, particularly Irene
and Bernard Cohan, Vincent Hammond, William Jeanes, Jr., Helen Jeanes,
PriscillaReed, Isadore Reivich, and LarryRogin.
KennethT.Jackson, mydissertationadvisoratColumbia,hasbeena loyal
mentorand friend overmany years. He introduced me to key issues in urban
andpolicyhistory, helpedmemaneuvertheshoalsofgraduateschooland the
jobmarket,andhasimmenselyimprovedthisbookbyadvicewhentheproject
was beingformulated andclose readings ofthe manuscriptsince. Ialso owe a
debttoRichardAbramsandPaulaFassfor inspiringmetopursuemygraduate
educationandsupportingmyefforttodoso. Iwant toacknowledge Elizabeth
BlackmarandJoshua Freeman for their efforts before, during, and after their
service onmydissertationcommittee.GwendolynWrightandRichard Plunz
provided important inputduringearlystages ofwork.
A greatmanycolleagues andfriends have helped invarious waysoverthe
years. Many thanks to: Henry Binford, Eugenie Birch, Charles Byler, Mary
AnnClawson,RogerDaniels,GaryDymski, MichaelEbner,RobertFishman,
Deborah Gardner, Tim Gilfoyle, Howard Gillette, Scott Henderson, Susan
Henderson, Charles Hoch, Clifton Hood, Janet Hutchison, Ann Keating,
Judy Kramer, Gene Lewis, Carolyn Loeb, Stanley Mallach, Margaret Marsh,
Jon Peterson, Wendy Plotkin, Susan Rugh, Eric Sandeen, Ron Schatz, Joel
Schwartz, PaulaSchwartz, PaulaSilver,FrankStricker,KristinSzylvian, Marc
ix